


Canons of Rhetoric

by moominjeolmie



Series: Interdependent [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Drama, M/M, Noren, Romance, idk how to tag, side!chensung, will add as it goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 11:47:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14769018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moominjeolmie/pseuds/moominjeolmie
Summary: Renjun becomes the Caretaker of the Dogs in the Afterlife, but Jeno, the Reaper of Souls, is not keen on welcoming him.Don't say you miss me, when you don't callDon't say you're hurting, without the scarsDon't promise me tonight, without tomorrow tooDon't say you love me, unless you do





	Canons of Rhetoric

Gray sheets blanket the vast sky, rendering the earth below dim and cold. Birds sing their morning song as they glide through the misty air, looking just for a tree to shelter and rest their cold wings. The wind whistles softly a gentle hymn and as it reaches the sidewalks, the roses dance in delight. It eventually reaches a certain room, green curtains fashioning their frills gracefully. It still continues to make the curtains dance; and goes on ahead until it reaches the sleeping boy.

The wind caresses Renjun's face like a mother careful to not wake her child, easing the frown etched on the boy's forehead. He must have felt cold as the boy shivers at the wind's careful effort, the sweat on his neck turning cold rapidly. A stray leaf from the outside enters the room while dancing in circles at the wind's song. It continues its performance before ending with a slight and gentle rest on Renjun's neck.

Renjun springs up, cold sweat dripping from his face. He clutches his chest tightly, crumpling his shirt as he feels the drumming of his heart intensifying each second. He feels empty. He feels lost. He does not even know he is crying until a fat droplet splatters on his hand, making him reach for his cheeks only to found a lone and cold streak his teardrop had made. 

It has been happening for weeks now. 3 weeks to be exact. After that unfortunate incident of him being hit by a falling flower pot that resulted into a concussion, he had been having recurring dreams. It is an understatement to say that the doctors attending to him were shocked as Renjun's body suddenly became functional after minutes of his heartbeat stopping due to too much loss of blood. They were ready to declare him dead, but Renjun springing up only to cry and clutch tightly the doctor beside him as if his life depended on it made them stop. Everyone, except from the boy, let their jaw drop as much as it can as their minds try to take in whatever is happening right in front of them. A boy, whose concussion resulted to extreme blood loss which eventually led to cardiac arrest, survived. 

His dream became sort of an alarm clock for Renjun. He wakes up in a time range wherein it is not too late nor not too early to do his things; yet he does not know whether he should be thankful for that. Before he would go to sleep, Renjun will make sure to dim all the lights and get himself a glass of water before lighting his strange yet favorite apple-scented candle. He does not know where or from whom he got it from, but the candle never seems to be depleting and is still as fragrant as ever. It lets him feel safe. It lets him feel home. 

As the fragrance of the sweet apple slowly fills the room, Renjun can feel himself slowly drifting to sleep. He does not know how or when, but the dream would always start at the same place - his living room. The drama from the television resonates around the room, and Renjun, despite having the same dream occurring again and again, can feel himself getting irritated with the male lead. He is on the edge of his seat and is this close to punch the male lead through the screen until the sound of the door opening and close shut can be heard. Renjun immediately shoots up, rushing towards the door only to see nothing but a blurred silhouette of another boy. Renjun can make up in his poor eyesight the boy removing his jacket and shoes before ultimately facing him. What he heard next was always the defining point of his dream - strong and at the same time, hurtful

_"We are done, you hear?" the boy in all black yells in front of him. Renjun flinches at this, his eyes starting to get more blurred as he tries to reach for the boy. He flinches and lets out a whimper when he feels his hands swatted away, his mouth opening in what one can make up of as hurt and disbelief._

_"We are over! We are done! I do not want to see your face anymore! What more do you want me to say just to tell you that you should go?"_

Renjun rubs his chest for comfort, his hands reaching up to dry his face of tears. He feels himself calm down as time goes on, his heartbeat inside getting calmer every second. He then trudges slowly towards his kitchen and reaches himself a glass of cold water, taking big gulps and sighing as the glass diminished of water quickly. His eyes trained on the living room and for some reason, a headache suddenly reaches his head. A box of pizza with some pieces still intact lies on the table filled with cans of beer and soda. Crumbs of what he can make out as chips he must have ate last night scatter unwelcome at his sofa and carpet. He fished his phone from his pocket and quickly dials a number he knows by heart. 

"Good morning, Princess Renjun," the voice on the other line exclaimed. "To what service to I owe thee?"

Renjun stops the urge of rolling his eyes. He wanted to retain his remaining sanity that majority was lost due to his headache, and rolling his eyes would only make it hurt more. "Shut it, Jaemin. Will you please come here?"

He could hear Jaemin feigning shock on the other line, letting out a mocking gasp which ultimately causes Renjun to roll his eyes, only to regret it a second later because of the pounding pain in his head. "You only call me when you need me," the other said, making Renjun sense the overreactions Jaemin is concurring at the other side in which he scoffs at. "I am hurt, Jun"

"Can you stop and tell me if you are available to come here and make me a hangover soup?"

A pause is heard and silence envelopes the room again for quite a while before Jaemin spoke again. "Alcohol and soda, again?"

Renjun can only hum in response, his fingers going up to pinch the bridge of his nose in an effort to help the pain subside. He hears Jaemin clicking his tongue and then letting out a long but heavy sigh on the other line as he hears a few rustling.

"It's just a dream, Injoon" The other boy said softly, letting out a few comforting hushes before continuing. "It is not real"

"You do not know how it feels, Jaemin." Renjun says, a teardrop finding its way down his cheeks again. "It feels real. My chest hurts so much and I wake up really feeling down and empty. I feel hurt, Jaemin." He pauses to catch his breath before he resumes, shifting his phone onto his other ear. "How can it be not real?"

A long pause ensues with nothing but Renjun's sobs and their exchange of breaths were heard. He looks up at the ceiling as if answers will be found there, hope and despair evident in his eyes. 

_Who are you? What happened? Why does it hurt?_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sky remains dim; just dim enough for one not to think that a storm might come up. The wind became a tad warmer and the birds were too delighted at this that they sung their song louder than usual as they continue their journey to find a new home.

Renjun sighs and nods his head before ducking to tie his shoes. He then grabs the towel situated on the backrest of his chair and his water bottle before heading out . He lifts his hand and sets the timer on his watch. 15 minutes, it said. Renjun then started to jog the uphill street nearby his house. He does not forget to mind his breathing pattern though, as he still cannot perform exercises that well after the incident. Big sighs and huffs were let out before Renjun eventually stops as he reaches the end of the slope, taking big gulps from his water bottle. He still continue to catch his breath, but then his eyes catch sight of his watch and that reminds him that whatever he is doing is timed. He takes a short time just to wipe the towel all over his face before he sets on again, taking a sharp left turn. The wind slaps his face, yet gently, as he runs; the sensation enough for him to not feel tired just yet. He then takes a quick glance on his watch and reads the time. _11 minutes_ , he mumbles to himself.

His decision to look at his watch proved to be a very wrong choice as he misses the sight of a speeding car, a familiar speeding car. And it is as if time had stopped because the car suddenly halts, just before it hits him. Renjun looks around; the sky is finally shining after a long dim day, an old couple walking on the sidewalk hand in hand, and a dog looking straight at him that looks horrified but could do nothing. The trees were a bit greener that usual and the flowers sport their morning dew to add to their beauty. Renjun smiles at this before he feels himself flying and spinning. He closes his eyes so hard that his mind went blank, his world still spinning at a rapid pace that he feels puking. He then lets the darkness consume his body as he lets out one soft, delicate, and longing unconscious whisper.

_Jeno..._

**Author's Note:**

> Here to actually water the noren tag!!  
> hmu or talk to me at twitter @_myhrj :D


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